Although it can be prevented and successfully treated, tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s deadliest infectious disease: in 2015, 1.8 million people died from it.1 While there have been substantial and important innovations in the fight against TB, including faster, more accurate diagnostic tests and the first new medicines in nearly 50 years, deadly gaps remain in implementing and providing access to these advances. Outdated policies, practices and tools for diagnosing, as well as conservatism and inaction in registering and using new TB medicines, are key barriers to turning around the TB epidemic. The report reveals that many countries still lag behind in ensuring full implementation of the WHO guidelines and policies that are proven to reduce TB incidence and death.